Beirut Explosion: Rubble Collected Randomly Amid Warnings of Dangerous Materials

Volunteers begin to clean the streets on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s blast in Beirut’s port area. Mohamed Azakir / Reuters
Volunteers begin to clean the streets on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s blast in Beirut’s port area. Mohamed Azakir / Reuters
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Beirut Explosion: Rubble Collected Randomly Amid Warnings of Dangerous Materials

Volunteers begin to clean the streets on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s blast in Beirut’s port area. Mohamed Azakir / Reuters
Volunteers begin to clean the streets on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s blast in Beirut’s port area. Mohamed Azakir / Reuters

Since the first day after the Beirut explosion, a large number of citizens and civil society groups rushed to help remove rubble from the streets, in the absence of an organized process that takes into account the presence of dangerous materials and the risk of buildings collapse.

“Removing the debris needs an emergency plan to determine the methods of collection, transportation and storage,” according to Dr. Amani Maalouf, an expert in environmental engineering and waste management.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Maalouf said: “It is necessary to remark that until this moment, there is no accurate information about the chemicals that accompanied the explosion, or those found in the rubble of apartments and buildings, or even materials that mixed with water or air.”

“Therefore, it is difficult to define the risks,” she warned, pointing to the possible presence of hazardous materials in the rubble, such as Asbestos, a fiber material that causes lung cancer that was used in isolation and construction. While its import and production stopped long time ago, it might have been used to build old houses that now collapsed, according to Maalouf.

Greenpeace MENA Programs Director Julian Jreissati, for his part, stressed that the rubble removal at the afflicted Mar Mikhael area must stop immediately, describing the activities as “irresponsible.”

“How can the Beirut municipality do this work, which can generate a lot of dust and may contain toxic substances that endanger the health of individuals in the neighborhood?” He asked.

In addition to the Asbestos, Maalouf talked about the presence of heavy metals “such as lead, mercury, adhesives and paint materials, as well as medical and petroleum waste due to damage that hit a number of health centers and fuel tanks.”

While she stressed that the presence of each of these materials separately in the rubble posed a danger to health and the environment, Maalouf warned that the greatest threat “lies in collecting all these materials and storing them together near the destroyed houses, which are still without windows.”

It is crucial to sort the waste within an organized process, she emphasized.



Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.